Print made by William Blake, 1757–1827, BritishHand colored by William Blake, 1757–1827, BritishText by Edward Young, 1683–1765, BritishPublished by Richard Edwards, active 1796–1797, British
Title:
'His hand the good man fastens on the skies' (Page 86)
Date:
1797
Materials & Techniques:
Etching, line engraving, and letterpress, with hand coloring in watercolor on moderately thick, slightly textured, cream wove paper
Dimensions:
Spine: 17 1/2 inches (44.5 cm)
Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:
Lettered inside image: "86 | Supporter sole of man above himself; | Even in this night of frailty, change, and death, | She gives the soul a soul that acts a God. | Religion! providence! an after-state! | Here is firm footing--here is solid rock-- | This can support us--all is sea besides-- | Sinks under us--bestorms, and then devours. | *His hand the good man fastens on the skies, | And bids earth roll, nor feels her idle whirl. | As when a wretch, from thick polluted air, | Darkness and stench, and suffocating damps, | And dungeon-horrors by kind fate discharged, | Climbs some fair eminence, where ether pure | Surrounds him, and elysian prospects rise; | His heart exults, his spirits cast their load; | As if new-born he triumphs in the change; | So joys the soul, when, from inglorious aims | And sordid sweets, from feculence and froth | Of ties terrestrial set at large, she mounts | To reason's region, her own element, | Breathes hopes immortal and affects the skies. | Religion! thou the soul of happiness; | And, groaning Calvary, of thee! there shine | The noblest truths; there strongest motives sting; | There sacred violence assaults the soul; | There nothing but compulsion is forborn. | Can love allure us? or can terror awe? | HE weeps!--the falling drop puts out the sun; | HE sighs!--the sigh earth's deep foundation shakes: | If in his love so terrible, what then"; lower right: " in. & s | WB"
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1992.8.10(35)
Classification:
Prints
Collection:
Prints and Drawings
Subject Terms:
earth | man | men | text | globe | literary theme | religious and mythological subject | clouds | pointing | planet